The spirit herbs in the mountain hollow had withered and flourished thirteen times, and the clouds around Star Spirit Main Peak had turned white, then green again. Han Li sat cross-legged beside the spirit spring's source on the central peak, the Water-Magnetic Sword laid across his knees. Time had polished the blood-magnetic star patterns on its blade until they were warm and lustrous as jade. Only when it resonated with Zi Ling's Star-Illusion Flag did a faint silver radiance shimmer across it.
Thirteen years had passed. Within this secret realm, he had repeated the cycle of refining pills, cultivating, sparring, and trial and error, all so that one day he could break through the crushing pressure of the deep sea and find the missing Zi Ling.
The original "Star Spirit Body-Tempering Pill" could no longer meet his needs. Through the passive deductions of "star spirit knowledge," Han Li discovered an even older formula hidden in the Star Spirit Tribe's ancient texts: the "Star-Magnetic Body-Tempering Pill." It required star-pattern grass as the sovereign ingredient, pool-center water as the guide, star-pattern crystal powder as the minister, millennium star spirit flower honey as the assistant, and magnetic essence griffin blood essence as the envoy.
The millennium star spirit flowers grew on the eastern peak's cliffs, blooming once every sixty years for only three days. Han Li had kept watch for three years before finally gathering a drop of honey in the eleventh year. The magnetic essence griffin blood essence was even harder to obtain. He sparred with the griffin more than a hundred times and helped regulate the griffin's spiritual power with the Star-Magnetic Star-Attracting Formation before receiving a single drop of blood in recognition.
``` [System notification: Material collection complete. "Star-pattern grass ×20," "Pool-center water ×3," "Star-pattern crystal powder ×5," "millennium star